Who for the Muslims vote in the Delhi Assembly Elections 2025? Will this vibrant, yet politically marginalised community, vote for Congress in Delhi?

Will they repose faith in the ruling party in an attempt to share the exploits that go with a winning team?

Muslims constitute 12.9% of the electorates in the national capital with a significant population in Chandni Chowk, East Delhi, New Delhi, North West Delhi, South Delhi, and West Delhi.

Who Will Win Okhla?

Okhla has 50% of the Muslim population and it has always elected the party which got most of the minority votes. The constituency includes areas like Shaheen Bagh, Jasola, Taimur Nagar and Madanpur Khadar village.

Congress won this seat in its heydays when it won the assembly elections from 1998 to 2008. Its candidate Pravez Hashmi consecutively won on the Congress ticket till 2013, when he lost to AAP’s Asif Mohammad Khan who sailed on the crest of the Anna Hazare movement.

AAP’s Amanatullah Khan won the Okhla constituency consecutively in the elections held in 2015 and 2020. He was accused of being involved in multiple corruption cases and was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.

Will AIMIM Sway Muslim Sentiments?

Ariba Khan, the daughter of Asif Mohammad Khan, is fiting the polls on the Congress ticket. She is also a councilor in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

The AIMIM has also fielded anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) activist Shifa Ur Rehman. As he is languishing in jail for his alleged role in the Delhi riots of 2020, his wife Nooreen Fatima, is campaigning for him.

Who Will Win Mustafabad?

Another Muslim-majority constituency is Mustafabad, which witnessed anti-CAA protests in 2020, riots, death, vandalism and arson.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has ielded Tahi Hussain after he quit the AAP, which did not back him after he was accused of being involved in the Delhi riots in 2020.

Congress is considered by many Muslims as the party that continues to fight communal forces. However, many voters in Muslim-dominated areas feel disillusioned and may give the Asaduddin-led party an opportunity.

Congress Or AAP?

As the AAP has made deep inroads in slum areas and found its base for its freebie politics among the poor and financially and economically marginalised, it has won at least a chunk of the Muslim votes.

However, the AAP remained silent during the Shaheen Bag sit-in protest against the CAA, it also did not come out in their favour during or after the Delhi riots of 2020. So, a big chunk of Muslims may not back it.

Analysts believe, as the Congress has failed to emerge as a party that can win enough seats to form the government, Muslims may have no alternative to the AAP as they want to keep the BJP out of power at any cost.